COP27 opens in Egypt between climate alarm and thirst for energy

The international conference on climate change (COP27) opens this Sunday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh between alarm calls against global warming and great nervousness about energy shortages.

The COP is the great annual meeting of the United Nations to combat climate change.

Egypt wants this to be the “African COP” to give voice to the demands of the continent: basically, more aid for adaptation to the environmental impact of global warming and collateral measures, such as a cancellation of foreign debt.

But the war in Ukraine, European anguish over the great gas and oil crisis and the legislative elections in the United States (November 8) threaten to dominate, once again, a conference that brings together, until November 18, practically the entire international community, almost 200 members.

leaders summit

On Monday the 7th and Tuesday the 8th, a summit of political leaders will be held, which will be attended by some 125 participants, according to the Egyptian presidency.

Although he will not participate directly in this forum, which is reserved for incumbent leaders, the recent winner of the Brazilian elections, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, announced his intention to attend COP27 after being unexpectedly invited by Egypt.

The left-wing leader, who will assume his third presidency in January, has already stated that the preservation of the Amazon will be one of his highest priorities, in contrast to the management of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, who favored logging and mining activities in the largest tropical forest. of the planet.

The US president, Joe Biden, confirmed his presence, but there will also be notable absentees, such as the Russian Vladimir Putin or the Chinese Xi Jinping.

China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet and its relations with the United States are currently very cold, which does not facilitate the complex negotiations within the COP, where all decisions are made by consensus.

Fractures between rich and poor

The international community committed itself at the historic COP21 in Paris (2015) to limit the increase in the planet’s average temperature to a maximum of 2ºC and, preferably, 1.5ºC, by the end of the century.

Instead, global warming could reach 2.8ºC, according to the latest UN report.

And energy-related greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise until they peak in 2025, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

Amid fears of a global recession, COP27 opens precisely under the threat of blockade due to a thorny issue, the “damage and loss” caused by climate change.

“Damage and Loss”

Developing countries demand the creation of a fund to deal with the damage caused by the emission of greenhouse gases, of which they are the main victims.

Although officially the negotiating parties of the COP have until 2024 to make a decision, “damages and losses” are on Sharm el Sheikh’s provisional agenda, which must be approved at the opening on Sunday.

“On the first day of COP27, developed countries must respond to the call of the G77 (a block of 134 developing countries),” warned a recent report by the US organization World Resources Institute.

“We have good reason to be optimistic,” said Wael Aboulmagd, representative of the Egyptian presidency of COP27, on Friday.

The United States is reluctant to set up a loss and damage fund.

China is an ally of the G77, while the European Union is open to discussion, albeit cautiously.

Germany, which currently chairs the G7 of the world’s most advanced economies, wants to play a “bridge” role, said its deputy foreign minister, Jennifer Morgan. Although the world is experiencing a “massive time of turmoil,” she warned.

There is also a dispute around the 100,000 million dollars a year that rich countries supposedly must give to the poorest to mitigate the emission of CO2 gases and adapt to the effects of climate change.

That amount has never been reached. Some 17 billion dollars are missing and the rich countries are already two years behind.

“This COP has to demonstrate that there is a clear change from negotiations to implementation” of the agreements already reached, explained the UN Executive Secretary for Climate Change, Simon Stiell.